Went for .22 Ammo, Bought .243 Rifle. Gonna Get Those Darn'd Groundhogs!

[emmettlodge]

Back story: We have a huge groundhog problem on my parent's farm, that I've been thinking more and more about taking care of. But it was only nagging in the back of my mind until...

Today: Went to Gander Mountain to buy .22 ammo, left with Remington .243 rifle with scope.

First Observation: .243 packs of 20 cost $19.

But Good News: The whole rifle/scope package only set me back $350. Great deal!

SO...

1) Give me some advice on groundhog hunting. This is the first hunting I've ever done.

2) I'd like to paint this rifle, because it's ugly in all black plastic, and it was cheap so who gives a crap. Suggest rattle can paint brands suitable for the type of plastic this rifle stock is made of.

[VDubby18]

How big are groundhogs?


I use a .243 to hunt white tail deer with. I think you'll be taking out some groundhogs.

[LangsamKafer]

How big are groundhogs?


I use a .243 to hunt white tail deer with. I think you'll be taking out some groundhogs.

They weigh anything from 5-15#. I'm not too familiar with the external ballistics of .243, but I know plenty of folks that hunt groundhogs with .223, .22-250 and 220 Swift... quite effective on them.

[emmettlodge]

I use a .243 to hunt white tail deer with. I think you'll be taking out some groundhogs.

[Obin Robinson]

It's going to take you a lot of patience. I used to shoot groundhogs when we lived in New York. the .243 will work quite well. The groundhogs are not as stupid as we want them to be. If they know a dude with a gun is going to blow them into pieces they'll sit in that little hole for HOURS. I mean wouldn't you?

Lay low and try to reduce your silhouette. Ground hogs can also feel the slightest vibrations in the ground so either walk very light when stalking them or learn to lay still for hours. I actually found that listening to music made the time pass faster while waiting for them to pop up and start scurrying about.

Here's a link to the story I wrote after I bagged that last ground hog:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ight=groundhog

Good luck!

obin

[Egilbe]

Woodchucks have an endearing habit of popping their heads up to peak around while they chew their mouth full of grass, freshly sprouted peas or flowers. I've done most of my stalking them from hands and knees. When they pop their head up, I freeze. When they go down for another mouth full, I stalk. Sometimes it can be awhile and they'll still get nervous and scurry into their hole. Be patient. They tend to pop up to look about again after a few moments. I've hunted them with .22LR and 7.62 FMJ. I've noticed that you didn't actually have to hit them with the 7.62 to kill them. A near miss is good enough. I hit is pretty obvious, but how do you explain a dead woodchuck with no bullet hole?

[gotta_jet]

Aervoe is pretty popular with people who rattle can their rifles and expect the paint to hold up.

[emmettlodge]

Aervoe is pretty popular with people who rattle can their rifles and expect the paint to hold up.

Thanks! I actually ended up just going with Krylon for plastic. Reading up on painting threads on other forums indicated that it was a good compromise between easy to use/fast drying, cheap, and still good durability.

Did it this afternoon, here are the results:

[emmettlodge]

It's going to take you a lot of patience. I used to shoot groundhogs when we lived in New York. the .243 will work quite well. The groundhogs are not as stupid as we want them to be. If they know a dude with a gun is going to blow them into pieces they'll sit in that little hole for HOURS. I mean wouldn't you?

Lay low and try to reduce your silhouette. Ground hogs can also feel the slightest vibrations in the ground so either walk very light when stalking them or learn to lay still for hours. I actually found that listening to music made the time pass faster while waiting for them to pop up and start scurrying about.

Here's a link to the story I wrote after I bagged that last ground hog:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ight=groundhog

Good luck!

obin

Woodchucks have an endearing habit of popping their heads up to peak around while they chew their mouth full of grass, freshly sprouted peas or flowers. I've done most of my stalking them from hands and knees. When they pop their head up, I freeze. When they go down for another mouth full, I stalk. Sometimes it can be awhile and they'll still get nervous and scurry into their hole. Be patient. They tend to pop up to look about again after a few moments. I've hunted them with .22LR and 7.62 FMJ. I've noticed that you didn't actually have to hit them with the 7.62 to kill them. A near miss is good enough. I hit is pretty obvious, but how do you explain a dead woodchuck with no bullet hole?

Thanks for the advice, both of you.

Going to start staking them out tomorrow. I've already gone in and marked with surveyors tape where their main holes are, and I've picked a couple good spots to lay in wait that will give me a good view and don't have any hazards behind my shots.

There is one burrow that's going to be tricky - it goes into the foundation of a large barn, and it's surrounded by equipment. There is really only one way to make a safe shot with no risk of hitting anything or the barn, so I might be waiting there for a while since it'll be entirely dependent on the groundhog coming out and chilling in a very specific spot

I give myself a 20% success rate

[Obin Robinson]

Do you have a clear shot to all of their holes? If so then make a range card. I have a pretty good ballistics computer program on hand so if you tell me the barrel length, twist rate, and ammo brand I can tell you exactly where every bullet will hit at any range from 25m to 200m.

obin

[emmettlodge]

Do you have a clear shot to all of their holes? If so then make a range card. I have a pretty good ballistics computer program on hand so if you tell me the barrel length, twist rate, and ammo brand I can tell you exactly where every bullet will hit at any range from 25m to 200m.

obin

Wow, okay!

There are 4 holes I will be staking out. 2 of them are at about 120 yards from my 1st stake out location, 1 is 90 yards, and the last is 155 yards. These yardages are paced out, so approximate.

The barrel twist rate is 10", 22" barrel length, and I'm using 100 grain .243 Remington "Core-Lock".

[Egilbe]

Wow, okay!

There are 4 holes I will be staking out. 2 of them are at about 120 yards from my 1st stake out location, 1 is 90 yards, and the last is 155 yards. These yardages are paced out, so approximate.

The barrel twist rate is 10", 22" barrel length, and I'm using 100 grain .243 Remington "Core-Lock".

They tend to stray quite far away from their holes. It can be up to 40 yards or so, depending on how old they are or how hard they are hunted, by man or beast. Even if you find their holes, they may or may not be near them. I got between a baby and it's hole, once, when I was fishing the brook that runs through the fields I used to hunt them in. I sat down to watch it and it started gnashing it's teeth and lunging at me. It scared the hell out of me and I swung my fishing rod at him and the reel hit him in head and killed it. It broke the handle of my rod, too

My brother had a briard, it's a kind of sheep dog. The dog was barking at a woodchuck once, had him on it's back and my sister-in-law walked over to it and the woodchuck bit the dogs nose. The dog killed the woodchuck and my brother had to pay a $200 vet bill to get the dog's nose stapled back together. That dog became death to woodchucks. Absolutely hated them after that. It was hard to get close to a woodchuck anywhere near his house, they were so skittish.

[Obin Robinson]

Wow, okay!

There are 4 holes I will be staking out. 2 of them are at about 120 yards from my 1st stake out location, 1 is 90 yards, and the last is 155 yards. These yardages are paced out, so approximate.

The barrel twist rate is 10", 22" barrel length, and I'm using 100 grain .243 Remington "Core-Lock".

What range is your scope zeroed at? What is your elevation above sea level?

obin

[emmettlodge]

What range is your scope zeroed at? What is your elevation above sea level?

obin

Right now I'm bore sighted only to 100 yards.

Our elevation is 1,140 ft.

[Obin Robinson]

Last question: duplex reticle or mil-dot reticle?

Also PM me your e-mail address, the chart won't print out correctly here.

obin

[Obin Robinson]

Right now I'm bore sighted only to 100 yards.

Our elevation is 1,140 ft.

I just e-mailed you a stack of ballistics charts based on the info you gave me. At a range between 5 yards and 1,000 yards you should be within 1/4" of the chart I sent.

obin

[emmettlodge]

I just e-mailed you a stack of ballistics charts based on the info you gave me. At a range between 5 yards and 1,000 yards you should be within 1/4" of the chart I sent.

obin

Just got them, thanks so much! That's way more information than I probably need But the drop calculations especially are going to be invaluable.

Now all I need is a laser range finder. And a bipod. And a gillie suit. And more ammo. This hobby is expensive

[greyhare]

Obin, what ballistics program are you using? Just curious.

[Obin Robinson]

Obin, what ballistics program are you using? Just curious.

http://ballistic.zdziarski.com/

It is well worth the money.

obin

[.:RDriver]

Just go here. All you need for ballistic calculations online and can print out range cards etc.

http://www.jbmballistics.com/ballist...culators.shtml

[Obin Robinson]

Just go here. All you need for ballistic calculations online and can print out range cards etc.

http://www.jbmballistics.com/ballist...culators.shtml

JBM has good software and it works great if you have a chronograph or access to the factory load data. I used the JBM Ballistics software until we got the iPad. The nice thing about the one I use is that all the load data for hundreds of factory rounds is already in there.

Another one I use is iStrelok:
http://www.pcworld.com/appguide/app....2&expand=false

There is a version for Android phones as well.

obin

[Tinker Toy]

Do you want to blow up groundhogs or simply eliminate them? A dollar a shot for .243? Why not a .17 HMR? Cheaper ammo and less recoil too. I have neither; just asking.

[emmettlodge]

Do you want to blow up groundhogs or simply eliminate them? A dollar a shot for .243? Why not a .17 HMR? Cheaper ammo and less recoil too. I have neither; just asking.

Well i guess first off i've never heard of a .17 caliber.

But...The .22 i already owned wont sufficiently kill the groundhogs we have here according to several locals i talked to. They're too fat. Also i can't get accurate enough over 100 yrds with the .22 for head shots. So i knew i needed something larger than that. So a .17 obviously wouldnt work anyways.

And i went to Gander Mountain and asked the experts "lets just say i had a groundhog problem, what would you guys use?" and they handed me the .243

[Obin Robinson]

Do you want to blow up groundhogs or simply eliminate them? A dollar a shot for .243? Why not a .17 HMR? Cheaper ammo and less recoil too. I have neither; just asking.

The nice thing about .243 is that it is you can reload the empties. You can tailor a load just for groundhogs or crank it up a notch for coyotes and larger game. The .17hmr is a good round but it doesn't have the versatility or long distance potential of a .243.

obin

[2.FOH!!]

They handed you a .243 because:

First Observation: .243 packs of 20 cost $19

22-250 is a staple for groundhogs (as is .223).

.17HMR is effective as long as wind isn't a factor & as Obin mentioned, it tails off
pretty quickly where as a .223 will keep moving. Up to ~ 150 yards, however, it
will make short work of a ground marmit.

FWIW, I've stopped counting how many groundhogs I've taken with my 10/22.
(two just this weekend, although distance was closer to 70 yards)
Out to 100yds, CCI stingers will drop a hog quickly with a well placed shot to
the head or upper torso. Whoever told you .22LR wasn't effective is wrong.

Edit - I didn't mean to sound discouraging, BTW. That's a fine rifle for a good price.
.243 will destroy a groundhog, but unless you deal with ridiculous crosswinds & plan on
shooting past 300yds, it is a bit overkill for Ohio varmits.

[dj age one]

I love 17hmr. great round. super flat shooting and very accurate within its intended range. the p-dogs I've gotten with it pretty much explode. accurate enough for paint balls at 100 yards. its a a whole different thing from .22lr, and past 100 yards it out does the 22mag.

one of the good things about it, its very frangible, so misses and pass threw's don't have nearly as much chance of a dangerous ricochet.

don't have any experiance with the .243. seems like a pretty good round.. though maybe a bit of over kill for rodents

[Obin Robinson]

Bump up to see if you bagged one of the groundhogs yet?

obin

[compy222]

I love 17hmr. great round. super flat shooting and very accurate within its intended range. the p-dogs I've gotten with it pretty much explode. accurate enough for paint balls at 100 yards. its a a whole different thing from .22lr, and past 100 yards it out does the 22mag.

one of the good things about it, its very frangible, so misses and pass threw's don't have nearly as much chance of a dangerous ricochet.

don't have any experiance with the .243. seems like a pretty good round.. though maybe a bit of over kill for rodents

I too have a .17hmr savage with a 3-9x. i can hit a nickel at 100 yards provided there is little wind. past a 10-20 mph crosswind and you have to start getting creative. on a still day i was punching holes in an index card at past 150 yards...so flat shooting...

.243 is a great rifle. good pick-up. you could probably hunt larger game like coyote, white tail, or feral pig.

[emmettlodge]

Bump up to see if you bagged one of the groundhogs yet?

obin

Thanks for the bump Obin

I've actually not had ANY luck at all

I've been hunting them almost every late afternoon/evening now. I do see them but they're either not in a position where I can make a clear or safe shot, or they're moving, or they're just not around/out. I took one pot shot at one that was trundling along but missed it by about 3 feet

I wonder if they're bored of laughing at me yet

[HookedOn16v]

Thanks for the bump Obin

I've actually not had ANY luck at all

I've been hunting them almost every late afternoon/evening now. I do see them but they're either not in a position where I can make a clear or safe shot, or they're moving, or they're just not around/out. I took one pot shot at one that was trundling along but missed it by about 3 feet

I wonder if they're bored of laughing at me yet

Once they get bored they will slow down thinking you won't get 'em.

Then you turn them inside out!

[HookedOn16v]

.......
.243 is a great rifle. good pick-up. you could probably hunt larger game like coyote, white tail, or feral pig.

No probably about it! .243 will take any of those just fine. However, keyword too feral is PIG, not HOG. HOGS can be a whole 'nother ball game.

On a side note I dig the paint job. I really have been considering one of these entry level rifles to paint and use as a basic varmint/predator rifle. Although, that's what I built the AR for, what's another rifle in the safe??

[compy222]

i have a funny feeling that .243 will evaporate a small ground hog...probably roughly the same effect .17hmr has on squirrels...

[emmettlodge]

i have a funny feeling that .243 will evaporate a small ground hog...probably roughly the same effect .17hmr has on squirrels...

Whenever I do eventually hit one of these suckers, I'm expecting a substantial red mist

[LinkATX]

No probably about it! .243 will take any of those just fine. However, keyword too feral is PIG, not HOG. HOGS can be a whole 'nother ball game.

Lol, wut? Do you mean feral hogs/pigs and wild boar/pig? Either way, the .243 is fine for both with proper shot placement...


OP, have any pics of the groups you shot? I am interested how those "entry level" Remmy's shoot.

[HookedOn16v]

Lol, wut? Do you mean feral hogs/pigs and wild boar/pig? Either way, the .243 is fine for both with proper shot placement...

Yeah, however you want to phrase it.

Sure shot placement is key with anything, but there's nothing wrong packing a little bit bigger round for a bit bigger animal!